April 18, 2024
Penn State Climate Consortium announced 11 workshops designed to create and implement climate change solutions through its Climate Solutions Accelerator program.
April 10, 2024
Penn State undergraduates Nate Carey, Bridget Reheard and Mabel Tong have earned the 2024 Goldwater Scholarship, a national award that recognizes undergraduates who show exceptional potential as leaders.
March 18, 2024
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recognized Emma Chaplin, a second-year student majoring in environmental resource management in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, as a Future Leader in Agriculture.
March 13, 2024
Forests and streams are separate but linked ecosystems, existing side by side, with energy and nutrients crossing their porous borders and flowing back and forth between them. For example, leaves fall from trees, enter streams, decay and feed aquatic insects. Those insects emerge from the waters and are eaten by birds and bats. An international team led by Penn State researchers has now found that these ecosystems appear to keep the energy exchanges in balance — a finding that the scientists called surprising.
March 1, 2024
Undergraduate students from all campuses and majors can now apply for a Student Engagement Network Grant to support a variety of engagement experiences during Maymester and summer 2024. Engagement experiences can take many forms and grants of $1,000 to $2,000 can help students cover many kinds of costs.
February 16, 2024
An often-overlooked water plant that can double its biomass in two days, capture nitrogen from the air — making it a valuable green fertilizer — and be fed to poultry and livestock could serve as life-saving food for humans in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, a new study led by Penn State researchers suggests.
February 15, 2024
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is affecting human lives and the environment. Penn State Extension will explore these impacts during its webinar series, “The War in Ukraine: Impacts on the People, Forests, and Environment,” scheduled for noon to 1:30 p.m. Fridays, beginning March 1 and continuing through May 3.
February 7, 2024
For the first time, Penn State students could experience Antarctica’s wonders through an embedded course, “Antarctica: Human Impacts on a Fragile Environment,” offered this past fall.
January 30, 2024
On a brisk afternoon in December, students in a forestry course in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences ventured into a wooded field on the University Park campus, eager to discover woody plant specimens and claim bragging rights in the second annual Dendro Cup competition. Designed by instructors Eric Burkhart and Calvin Norman, the competition evaluates the expertise gained by students in the morning and afternoon sections of their fall semester field dendrology course.
January 29, 2024
Six Penn State researchers who were nominated by the Penn State community for their collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts were recognized with Institute of Energy and the Environment’s Research Awards.
January 17, 2024
Funded by a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a team of forest ecologists and social scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences will conduct research aimed at helping owners of small- to medium-sized forest tracts manage their woodlands for ecosystem services they deem desirable.
January 16, 2024
A team comprised of faculty from five departments in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Biology in the Eberly College of Science, funded by a $262,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has created a novel program to train doctoral degree students to conduct interdisciplinary research on the relationship between soils, plants and consumers.
January 4, 2024
The environmental resource management major offered by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences helps to prepare students for impactful careers centered on environmental protection and sustainability. Demonstrating a commitment to addressing climate challenges, fourth-year student Katherine Chu has embraced the opportunities that the program provides to contribute to innovative solutions.
December 15, 2023
Mary Ann Bruns, Penn State professor of soil microbiology and biogeochemistry, co-authored a new report that advocates for greater recognition of the microbial processes involved in methane production and consumption as society seeks solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.
December 15, 2023
A first-of-its-kind study for North America accumulated a list of potential invasive species for the state of Florida, with 40 species determined to pose the greatest threat to residents’ well-being. One species received the highest possible ranking for likelihood of invasion and threat to human health: the crab-eating macaque monkey.
November 29, 2023
Second-year student Sylvie Alexander, an environmental resource management major in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, spent last summer conducting research on the Flathead Indian Reservation located in western Montana. Her work was sponsored by the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates program.
November 21, 2023
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences lauded outstanding accomplishments in research during the 2023 Research Awards Ceremony, held Nov. 1 at the Hintz Family Alumni Center on the University Park campus.
November 15, 2023
A research team led by a Penn State ecologist has received a $1 million grant from NASA to integrate satellite data into predictive modeling to anticipate change in recruitment — the process by which new trees emerge — within forests across the eastern United States.
November 6, 2023
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences recently hosted a networking event for first-generation college students and advocates as part of the inaugural ERM 197: First Year, First-Gen Engagement seminar.
November 6, 2023
A framework called regenerative landscape design may improve how complex, interconnected environmental and social challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, are addressed, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers.
November 2, 2023
The latest episode of the "Growing Impact" podcast discusses landscape restoration as a potential natural climate solution for Africa.
October 27, 2023
To accelerate conservation and reduce water pollution, a Penn State team composed of outreach staff and extension educators will build upon existing partnerships with organizations in the lower Susquehanna River basin. The watershed is plagued by runoff of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture.
October 27, 2023
For doctoral student and agricultural educator Mia Sullivan, traveling to Uganda this past summer with Penn State’s Global Teach Ag Network will be the foundation for her studies and future career.
October 17, 2023
A nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded to Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences will support research on soil health and weed suppression in organic farming.
October 16, 2023
A collaboration among scientists from Penn State and the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education is aimed at developing agroforestry systems for Belize and Central America to support sustainable development while conserving the rainforest. As part of the initiative, three teams were awarded seed grants to pursue research on agricultural and ecological sustainability, preservation of tropical rainforest ecosystems and sustainable development in Belize.
October 5, 2023
Penn State faculty and students were part of a team that worked with smallholder farmers and policymakers in Uganda through the Collaborative Learning School, a two-week field workshop led by U.S. and African scientists and practitioners as a part of the SustainFood Network, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations program.
October 4, 2023
Despite decades of decline, a genetic analysis of ruffed grouse reveals that Pennsylvania’s state bird harbors more genetic diversity and connectivity than expected. The findings suggest that the iconic game bird could be maintained in persistent numbers if appropriate protections are implemented. The study, led by Penn State and Pennsylvania Game Commission researchers, published in the journal Molecular Ecology.
September 25, 2023
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has awarded three faculty members with funding to support the development of innovative course curricula through the college’s Harbaugh Faculty Scholars program.
September 21, 2023
Ava Klink, a senior majoring in environmental resource management in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, admits that getting a coveted internship with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., is unusual for someone with her educational background.
September 14, 2023
Some scientists believe the Paramos, a grassland ecosystem found in the northern Andes Mountains of South America, are “the world’s fastest evolving and coolest biodiversity hotspot,” according to Estelle Couradeau, assistant professor of soils and environmental microbiology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. This ecosystem — which is the prime headwater for lower tropical ecosystems and downstream urban centers in the Andean and the Orinoco-Amazon regions — is in jeopardy, she explained. Couradeau will lead a National Science Foundation-funded international team conducting research on how climate change will affect soil microbes in the ecologically fragile and important Paramos ecosystem in Colombia’s Andes Mountains.
